Managers of the scenic Valles Caldera National Preserve near Los Alamos, NM, have given the green light to leasing animal unit months (AUMs) on the preserve to New Mexico State University (NMSU) and Jemez Pueblo for the 2012 grazing season, turning down an offer of $35,000 from Santa Fe-based group WildEarth Guardians to keep stocking rates at zero.

The congressional rider that had prohibited USDA from inspecting horse meat—a necessity for interstate commerce—was quietly left out of the 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill signed into law by President Obama in November.

Public lands ranchers breathed a collective sigh of relief Jan. 31 when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service announced that the 2012 grazing fee would remain at $1.35 per animal unit month (AUM), the lowest rate allowable.

Western ranchers in the 10 states inhabited by greater sage grouse have had plenty to think about this February thanks to a pair of court rulings that have caused the fortunes of producers affected by this iconic bird to swing from one extreme to the other.

A community of Hispanic
ranchers in northern New Mexico is seeking injunction against a U.S.
Forest Service (Forest Service) decision to substantially reduce grazing
on two allotments, claiming that the service is mismanaging the land
and denying ranchers their right to use resources...

Animal health officials in Europe are scrambling for answers after a previously unknown virus cropped up in Germany this November. Provisionally called “Schmallenberg virus” after the German town in which it was first identified, the virus has also been found in the Netherlands, Belgium, and most recently in Great Britain.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition and National Wildlife Federation have been joined by at least one Bureau of Land Management (BLM) official in claiming that the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) U.S.

As the dust around the holidays finally begins to settle, it’s never any fun to find out that a heart-felt gift you gave was returned for cash. It’s bad enough when the returned gift is a sweater or a book, but when it’s the family ranch, the heartache reaches a whole different level.